Module 3 Life without money

Reading and speaking

1. Which of these sentences best describes your attitude to money? Give reasons.

1. All I want is enough money tо enjoy life.

2. Money is very important to me. I’d like to earn as much as possible.

3. I would be happy to live with less money and fewer possessions.

2. You’re going to read an article about a wоman who lives without money. Why do you think she does it? How do you think she survives? Read the article to find out.

At the age of 54 Heidemarie gave up her job as а psychotherapist, gave away all her money and her flat and threw away her credit cards. Today, apart from а few clothes (three sweaters, two skirts, two pairs of shoes, and а coat) and а few personal belongings, she doesn’t own anything.

It all began as а one-year experiment. In her home city оf Dortmund she set up а “swapping circle” where people swap services without using money, for example, а haircut for a mathematics class. То prove that this could work she decided to give up using money for а year. But when the year ended she continued and has not used money since then.

At first she house-sat for friends who were on holiday. She stayed in their house in return for watering the plants and looking after their animals. At the moment she is staying in а student residence where she can sleep, have а shower, or use a computer in return for cooking for the young people who live there. She also “works” as a psychotherapist. “Before I treated very wealthy people but now I help anyone who turns up. Sometimes they give me something in return, but not always.”

Heidemarie says, “I can’t live thanks to my contacts. А lot of people who know me understand what I'm doing and want to help me. When I need а bus ticket, for example, or а new tube of toothpaste I think, “Who сan I ask? What сan I give them in return?” If I want to go to the cinema, I might offer to look after somebody’s children for the afternoon.

It is one of the mistakes of our society that most people do something they don’t like just to earn money and spend it on things they don't need. Many people judge you according to how much you earn. In my opinion, all jobs are equally important. You may not earn a lot of money but you may be worth а lot as а person. That’s my message.”

So what did she do with all the money she earned from the sales of My life without money?

“I gave it all away …”

3. Read the article again and answer the questions.

1. What was Heidemarie’s job?

2. What possessions does she have now?

3. How did the experiment start?

4. Where has she lived since the experiment started?

5. Does she still work?

6. What does she do when she needs something?

7. What is she trying to show with her experiment?

8. What did she do with the money she earned from her book?

4. Discuss in pairs.

1. Do you agree with Heidemarie that … ?

• all jobs are equally important

• most people don’t like their jobs

• people judge you according to how much you earn

2. What do you think of Heidemarie? Would you like to have her as a friend?

5. Match the underlined phrasal verbs with their definitions. Write the verbs in the infinitive.

1. throw away put into the rubbish bin.

2. stop doing something.

3. arrive, appear

4. give something to somebody without wanting anything in return

5. start a new company or organization

6. be responsible for somebody or something

6. In pairs, answer the questions.

1. Do you agree that … ?

• money always makes people happy

• the more money you have, the more you want

• it’s better to have a lot of friends than much money

• you can buy everything you want with money

• it’s very important to become rich

2. What do you think of this quote said by the US boxer Joe Louise

“I don’t like money, but it quiets my nerves”? Discuss it.

Writing

7. Choose any of the topics in 6 and write 8 – 10 sentences about it.

Will different money currencies disappear in the future?

Reading

8. Read the text once. What are the two current trends on the money market? Then correct the six grammar mistakes with the verbs (wrong tense or wrong form).

The amount of coins and banknotes in circulation, plus rе­serves held in the central bank from commercial banks, is know as the monetary base. In the past, many currencies were pegged to a defined amount of a physical commodity such as gold. In the USA, а bank must to have reserves equivalent to ten реr cent of the money it lends, ¹____in many countries there are no minimum amount. This system works only as long as people trust it, ²_____no bank could cover demands on its reserves if everyone wanted their money at the same time.

What will happen in the future? А current trend is the disappearance of different currencies. This development сan be illustrated ³_____the introduction of the euro in 2002, ⁴_____12 currencies converged into one. As other countries join the eurozone, their currencies to disappear, too. At some point, there may be only four or five world currencies in use.

Another trend see coins and banknotes becoming unne­cessary; we increasingly_, carry and transfer our wealth with credit cards, smart cards or mobile phones. These tools al­low us to make transactions ⁵_____the use of cash, but the disadvantage is that sellers and governments can to track these payments. ⁶_____we make digital cash transactions anonymous, we risk trading an increase in convenience for а loss of privacy about how we spend our money.

9. Read the text again and complete with a connecting word.

because but unless by when without

10. Answer the questions.

1. What is the monetary base?

2. Are many currencies today pegged to any precious metals?

3. What is the amount of reserves in the US banks?

4. Do you know if there are any reserves in Russian banks?

5. Why do coins and banknotes become unnecessary today?

6. What is the disadvantage of digital transactions?

11. Find the terms that match the explanations.

1. An object used as a medium of exchange. _____

2. Exchanging one object of value for another. _____

3. Amount of cash available to an economy. _____

4. Amount of cash held by banks. _____

5. Legal tender of a particular country. _____

6. Goods such as grain or gold. _____

What do you do every day?

Reading and speaking

12. Here are two typical work days of an economist: the work day of an accountant who works at a bank and another who is an academic economist. Read these scenarios and answer the questions.

1. What time does Martin start to work?

2. What duties does he perform there?

3. How does he prefer to get to work?

4. What is Isabella responsible for?

5. Does she rest at her lunch break?

6. How does she spend her time in the evenings?

13. Match the two halves of the sentences.

1. He comes to work a. to work.

2. She spends her time b. customers’ accounts.

3. She starts work c. about products and services.

4. He has lunch d. at 8.30.

5. He is responsible for e. on research, teaching and writing.

6. She spends a long break at lunchtime f. preparing classes and grading papers.

7. She deals with g. any economic questions

8. He quite often walks h. with the colleagues.

9. She is responsible for i. at 9.00.

10. He answers questions j. with the clients.

14. Complete the resumes using the information from 12.

Personal information

Name Martin Smith

Address 7CarlswoodStreet, London

Telephone 01815691260

Nationality British

Marital status Single

Date of birth 12^th May 1982

Employment

2005 – present ¹….. at the Commerce Bank, London

Duties: I ²… and ³… . I am also responsible for ⁴… and ⁵…

Education

2000 – 2004 BS in Economics, London University

1997 – 2000 Fulton High School

Languages Fluent in French and German

Computer skills I have good working knowledge of computer.

Additional Full driving license

information I am fond of ⁶…

Personal information

Name Isabella Spenser

Address 105 Oren Street, Cambridge

Telephone 675563648926

Nationality American

Marital status Single

Date of birth 26^th October 1977

Employment

2001 – present ¹….. at the University of Harvard, Cambridge

Duties: I ²… and ³… . I am also responsible for ⁴ … .

Education

1997 – 1999 MBA in Economics, Harvard Business School

1992 – 1996 BS in Economics, the

University of Harvard

Languages Fluent in Spanish

Computer skills Windows XP

Additional In my free time I also

information work as ⁵… and take part in ⁶…

15. Now speak about Martin and Isabella using the information from resumes.

16. Write your own resume.

Reading and writing

17. Read two jokes and answer the questions.